Related content

They said, in some cases, a locum could earn £1,500 a shift – more than four times what it would cost to employ a permanent doctor in the same role. But a spokeswoman for Derby's hospitals said there had not been that much change in the city.

Figures show that, between April 2011 and March 2012, the trust spent £1,685,401 and, between April 2012 and March 2013, it had spent £1,696,683 on temporary A&E doctors.

So far this financial year, from April 2013 to December, £1,685,401 had been spent.